Friday, March 21, 2008

Monday, March 17, 2008

...Originally a phoenix was requested but when we started drawing the design on, with all the old scars a koi just seemed to fit much better with the scales in the direction of her scars. I actually removed some of the old scars to get things level and tried to create a level scar in a field of uneven scar tissue. As you see in the drawing, some scales were also going to be removal for a spotted koi look, but some of the scars’ roots were just to deep to do all at once, so we got the outline done. I’m quite pleased with the results thus far. I’m sure when we add some grey wash to the piece it will give the entire piece more depth and really take the emphasis off the old scars...More at ModBlogDon't forget to play 6 Degrees of Casey Serin to Ashley Alexandra Dupre!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The prehistoric film is in a state of crisis, and Roland Emmerich's imminent 10,000 BC doesn't help things one bit. A generation ago, inspired by trailblazers such as One Million Years BC (released in 1966), the genre provided a steady stream of edifying diversions - The Clan of the Cave Bear, Quest for Fire, Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja. All of these films featured leggy, empowered, strong, leggy, decisive, leggy, fearless but primarily leggy young women who had worked themselves into positions of tremendous power. But now, in a typically weasel-like attempt to make up for perceived past transgressions against feminism, male screenwriters and directors have purged the cheesecake element and dragged what had been a fairly racy genre right down into a bog of retroactive political correctness.In today's postmodern prehistoric film, the women - rather than thundering across the Hyborian savannahs clad only in string bikinis stitched together from the carcasses of very tiny Jurassic marsupials, but doing so in a strong and empowered way - are simply shunted off to the sidelines. There, dressed quite sensibly for the primeval winter in blankets, scarves and stone age maxi-skirts, they revert to bland, traditional roles as nurturers, seers, bringers of light, bearers of good tidings. Meanwhile, the boys get to peel down to their skivvies, show off their six-packs and have all the fun. Were they dead, Sandahl Bergman, Brigitte Nielsen, Grace Jones, Raquel Welch and all the other warrior queens of yesteryear would be turning in their graves.

Friday, March 7, 2008

This post from startup founder Jason Calacanis is making the rounds of the internet. There's some general common sense in there, but most of the tips are about extracting the most possible butt-hours per week from each employee. Ther are a couple that drew special attention, though:

Don't buy a phone system. No one will use it. No one at Mahalo has a desk phone except the admin folks. Everyone else is on IRC, chat, and their cell phone. Everyone has a cell phone, folks would rather get calls on it, and 99% of communication is NOT on the phone. Savings? At least $500 a year per person... 50 people over three years? $75-100k

Hmm... does BossTard's company pay for the business calls employees are expected to use their cell phones for? Somehow I suspect not.

But the part that's attracted the most ire is #11: Fire people who are not workaholics. don't love their work... come on folks, this is startup life, it's not a game. don't work at a startup if you're not into it--go work at the post office or stabucks if you're not into it you want balance in your life. For realz.

The strikethroughs are BossTard's, representing edits made after the flames started rolling in. Despite his statements to the contrary, I think the original is truer to the rest of the post and probably represents what he really thinks. The rest of the post is all about keeping employees parked in front of their computers for as many hours as possible. Fine. A lot of startups work that way. I prefer to avoid them, but I recognize that they exist and some people thrive in them. But next to his 17 points about how to keep as little average distance between butts and chairs is his Twitter widget:

Now, I'm sure that's a reaction to the criticism he's attracted and an attempt to distance himself from his original position. Still, I wonder just how many of Mahalo.com's employees have been home with their families living a balanced life all evening. I suspect that a comparison of BossTard's average hours against his employees' would be rather telling.

Welcome to the Caseysphere, BossTard.

By the way, I've noticed that when I'm doing creative work I tend to get more done in the 15 minute walk to get coffee than in an hour at my desk.